Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Award Winners 2020

“It is a brave and fragile thing to pick up pen and paper and write one’s observations and recollections of the world,” says Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Award Poetry Judge Glenn Colquhoun.

The Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards Evening was held on Wednesday 28 October in Hāwera.

Around 80 people attended to find out the winners of one of the biggest events in South Taranaki’s Literary events calendar.

Judges, Whiti Hereaka, Glenn Colquhoun and Matt Rilkoff, were impressed at this year’s entries and noted the works were very grounded in the South Taranaki landscape and, in some instances, brought Morrieson right back into the room.

Alongside the judges, awards were presented by South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon.

The winners for this year are:
Short Story
Secondary School Section
First Place:“Just Like Old Times” by Liam Finer, Hāwera High School
Second Place:“The Skate Isn’t Tight Enough” by Anne Larcom, Taranaki Diocesan School for Girls
Third Place:“The Kumara Plant” by Lexi McQuaig, Ōpunakē High School
Open Section
First Place:“A Good Guy” by James O'Sullivan, New Plymouth
Second Place:“Pātea Pools” by Airana Ngarewa, Pātea
Third Place:“Milky Mountain” by Emma Hislop, New Plymouth
Poetry
Open Section
First Place: “Hope” by Maria Taylor, Stratford
Second Place:“A worms eye view” by Koren Miller, Hāwera
Third Place:“Weightless” by Sasha Finer, Hāwera
Secondary School Section
First Place: “Toothpaste” by Lexi McQuaig, Ōpunakē High School
Second Place:“Sensing Kevin” by Madaline Symes, Ōpunakē High School
Third Place: “The Document” by Lexi McQuaig, Ōpunakē High School
Research Article
First Place: “Just a Bit of Luck” by Bethan Hansen, Taranaki Diocesan School for Girls
Second Place: “Always give it a try” by Alena Hojdelewicz, Taranaki Diocesan School for Girls
Third Place: “The one risk you take can equal your life” by Hollie Radford, Taranaki Diocesan School for Girls

The winning entries can be found in the 2020 Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards Finalist Book which is available for purchase from any South Taranaki LibraryPlus for $5.

Additional information:

The Awards, sponsored by the Lysaght Watt Trust, honour the work of one of New Zealand’s most preeminent authors, Ronald Hugh Morrieson (1922 – 1972). Morrieson wrote four novels: a coming of age tale The Scarecrow (1963), Came a Hot Friday (1964), Predicament (published in 1975) and his only contemporary novel Pallet on the Floor (1976). All have been adapted for the cinema, the only New Zealand writer to have acquired this achievement. Two short stories were published posthumously, in 1974; Cross My Heart and Cut My Throat and The Chimney.

Further information about the Judges can be found here: http://www.rhmorriesonawards.com/the-judges.html